What's with the X?
by Pretty in Scarlet
Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?
1. Enter the Rogue

Title: What's with the X?

Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd had recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own X-Men Evolution. Marvel owns them. So...nah :P

A/N: Rogue shouldn't have joined the X-Men! She character didn't have anywhere near as much angst when she was in the Brotherhood! Besides the Brotherhood is awesome and the X-Geeks are, well, geeks. Rogue is cool and therefore belongs in the BOM. Enjoy!

---Chapter One: Enter the Rogue

Mystique stormed into the boarding house and found Lance and Todd sitting in the living room watching TV. She scowled and walked up to them, still angered by the phone call she received from Destiny nearly thirty minutes or so ago. They had been so careful with Rogue and her powers still managed to manifest in the worst way possible. The poor girl was probably so confused and afraid. After all she had landed a boy into a coma!

"Let's go," she hissed impatiently.

"What's with you, yo?" Todd asked, not looking up from the television.

"I don't have time to sit here and explain this! Get moving!" the shape shifter shrieked.

Lance rolled his eyes and pulled the other mutant to his feet. He stepped into his shoes and crossed the living room to Mystique's side.

"Where are we going?" he asked as they left the boarding house.

"The foster daughter of a friend of mine had a little accident," she answered.

"What kinda accident?" Todd inquired.

"Her powers manifested and now there's a boy in the hospital. She's on the run."

"Great way to spend our weekend," Lance snorted.

She paid no attention to them. The only thing on her mind was getting to Rogue before the X-Men did. She would not stand for _her_ daughter going with Charles. There was just no way she would let that happen. Rogue belonged in the Brotherhood. Not to mention Magneto would not be in a good mood if the X-Men recruited her. Rogue's powers would be a definite advantage over Charles and his little students.

---

Rogue looked around the bedroom in confusion. This was her room, wasn't it? It all seemed so familiar and yet part her knew she had never set foot in this room before now. She opened a yearbook sitting on the desk and spotted two pictures. One was of Cody. She was Cody...right?

"Which one am Ah?" Rogue asked herself. "What's the matter with meh?" She flung the yearbook aside in frustration and collapsed onto the bed, holding her spinning head in her gloved hands. "Ugh, Ah'm so confused!"

"Hey there," a voice said.

Her head snapped up and see saw a brown haired boy leaning in the doorway. Neither of her personalities knew him so she instantly stepped into a defensive position. She slowly backed up.

"What d'you want?" she asked.

"Cool it, I'm not here to hurt you." The boy offered her a friendly smile. "My name is Lance. I know Irene,"

"You do?" Rogue raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. A friend of hers wants to help you."

"Help meh with...what?"

"Your gift," Lance answered.

The southern goth girl snorted. "Ah have no _gift_. It's a curse. I'm a freak."  
  
"Mutant, actually. And it doesn't have to be a curse."  
  
"What do you know?" she snapped.

Lance shrugged. "I have a _curse_ as you put it, too."  
  
Rogue looked him over warily. "Ya mean weird stuff happens when ya touch people?

"Not exactly..."

His eyes rolled back and suddenly the ground started to shake. Rogue was caught off guard and stumbled back onto the bed. She stood slowly and stared at him in amazement, completely dumbfounded.

"You...you did that?"  
  
"Yeah," Lance grinned. "Ya see? Once you get the hang of it, being a mutant is actually pretty cool."

"Not being able to touch anyone is cool?" Rogue narrowed her eyes. "Ah don' think so. Why should Ah trust you?"

He shrugged again. "It's either me or the X-Men."

"The _who_?"

"The X-Men. Trust me, you _don't_ wanna go with them."  
  
"Oh? And why not?"  
  
"They ruined my chances with the girl I liked and nearly fried my friend Todd."

"How do Ah know you aren't makin' that all up?"  
  
"You don't. Go with your instincts Rogue. Who would you rather go with? A friend of your foster mother's or a bunch of stuck up geeks?"

Rogue weighed her options. Lance seemed very sincere and he didn't look like he wanted to hurt her. And these X-Men sounded awfully lame. She stared blankly at the boy for a moment before her shoulder's slumped.

"All right. Ah guess I'll go with you."  
  
---

On Tuesday Rogue somehow managed to pull herself out of bed and get dressed. She had registered at Bayville High on Monday and had slept for the rest of the day while the boys were at school. So far she liked Lance and Todd. They didn't treat her like a freak and were actually very funny and considerate. Mystique had no idea how wrong she was by calling them morons.

"Hey Rogue!" Lance greeted. "Ready for you first day at Bayville?"  
  
"To tell y'all the truth, no," she admitted. "Ah'm still not used to this whole mutant thing."  
  
Todd caught a fly with his tongue and munched on it. "Don't worry 'bout it, yo. You'll get used to it."

"Sure Ah will," she muttered. "Y'all ready ta go?"

"Yeah, jus' lemme grab my stuff!" Todd hoped into the living room and returned with his backpack. "Okay, were can go."  
  
They three of them piled into Lance's jeep and drove off to Bayville. Rogue sat in the front passenger seat and she rung her hands out while watching trees and other cars blur by. What would happen if someone touched her? She shook her head and chose not to think about.

"We're here!" Todd leapt out of the jeep and landed at Rogue's side. "Oooo, this so cool, yo! I have a hot creepy friend!" he grinned widely and Rogue stared at him. "Erm, creepy in a good way, honestly!"

"He gets bullied by jocks," Lance explained. "Who knows? Maybe havin' you around will scare them away."

"Sure, why not?" Rogue slung her bag over her shoulder and followed the boys into the school.

They dropped her off at her locker and she loaded her things into it before pulling out the books she needed for her first class. She looked at her schedule and headed off to European History. On the way she spotted a cheerful looking girl with a brunette ponytail, talking to a beautiful red headed girl. She watched them a moment and was surprised to see that they look at her in shock.

"Isn't that her?" the brunette whispered.

"Yeah," the redhead replied. "How'd she get here?"

"You don't think she's with...ya know, _them_, do you?"

Rogue scowled and stormed passed.

"Uh, oh!" the redhead gasped. "I think she heard us!"

Growling, Rogue walked into the European History room and sat down in the back of the room.

---

"Who are those girls?" Rogue asked, sitting her tray down and pointing at the brunette and redhead from earlier.

Lance looked over in the direction she was pointing and rolled his eyes. "X-Geeks. The brunette, Kitty, is the one I liked."

"You were right," she said, taking a seat. "They do look like stuck up geeks."  
  
"Told ya!" Todd said, nibbling on a cockroach he had found in the boys' locker room.

"That is gross," Rogue crinkled her nose. "But then again, it's probably better than this!" she gestured to her tray.

Lance laughed a bit and guzzled down his soda. "We usually bring our own lunch but we haven't been shopping lately."

Rogue frowned. "Why don't we go after school? So far Ah don' have much homework. What about you two?"

"None," Todd grinned.

"Just a bit," Lance answered. "I guess we could go. Mystique left some money for us last night and Todd can grab a couple wallets if we need anything extra. He's made a little habit of it."

"Why am Ah not surprised?" Rogue grabbed her tray and stood up. "Ah'm goin' outside. Wanna come?"  
  
"Sure," the boys shrugged an followed her.

---

A/N: Okay, not off to the best start but I kinda like it. Um...Please review? I'd highly appreciate it!


	2. Loyalty of the Rogue

Title: What's with the X?

Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd had recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter.

A/N: Well, since Mystique never lied to Rogue, none of the events in Turn of the Rogue will happen. Hope ya don't mind O.o... Thanks so much for the reviews! Here's chapter two.

---Chapter Two: Loyalty of the Rogue

Two weeks had passed since Rogue had joined the Brotherhood. During that time period, she not only met Fred Dukes, she also blasted him into the town dump after he kidnapped Jean. Then came Pietro. At first he had been nothing but an arrogant, annoying, and whinny pain in the side, but after he got to know the Brotherhood more he turned out to be a fairly nice person to be around. It amused everyone how easily he could get under Mystique's blue skin, yet he refused to tell them how he managed to make her follow _his_ orders.

"It's not important," he had said.

School was much more interesting with Pietro around. During lunch he had unscrewed the salt shaker lids at the table the X-Men usually sat. That had definitely been worth a few laughs.

Then there was the incident with the strange devise Rogue and Kurt had found. The X-Men had been shocked to discover Rogue was working with Mystique and all she had to say was, "Hey, you've got your friends and Ah've got mine...Wait a second! Why else would Ah have been sittin' with them at lunch everyday?"

Other than that, nothing much happened.

Rogue awoke to the sound of the Brotherhood arguing..._again_. She groaned a bit and slid out of bed before pulling her clothes on and heading downstairs to grab something to eat before Fred devoured everything. With him around they had to go grocery shopping every other day. Not that anyone really minded. It was nice to get out the house.

"Hey, Roguey!" Pietro greeted when she walked into the kitchen. "Sleep well?"

"Would've if y'all had been quiet!" she muttered, taking a seat. She yawned and grabbed a box of cereal from Todd. "Ya mean you're actually eating food?"

"No flies today," Todd shrugged. "I mean, since you make us keep the house clean, and all, yo..."

"Would y'all rather Mystique come home to the disaster _you'd_ leave it?"

Todd thought a moment and paled.

"Ah thought so."

They ate breakfast and headed outside. Lance and Pietro sat in the front of the jeep, and somehow, Rogue, Todd, and Fred managed to squeeze into the backseat.

"If we get any new recruits, you're runnin' to school from now on, yo!" Todd shouted.

"Here, Ah've got an idea." Rogue leaned up and forced Todd to perch up on Fred's shoulder. That gave them a bit more room. "Just don't let go and that should work."

When they got to school Rogue wasted no time chit-chatting and walked off to her locker. When she got there, she was disgusted to find Kitty flirting with some boy named Jason. Oh, Lance would _love _this.

"Seriously?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, the school's performing Dracula."  
  
Rogue's eyes widened. _Dracula_? This was almost to good to be true! She listened in for the details and rolled her eyes when she realized Kitty wasn't interested in the part itself. She just wanted an excuse to dance with Jason. He waved to her and walked away, and Kitty discovered Rogue was behind her when she snorted.

"Just when Ah thought you couldn't get anymore pathetic..."

"Hey, at least I've got a chance at getting the part!"

"You? Please, Ah was _born_ for this play! ...What the?" Rogue reached around Kitty and grabbed Evan. She scowled when she saw he had a camera in his hands. "Listen to meh Porcupine...If Ah see mah face on this, they'll be callin' you Spyke-_less_, ya hear me?" She dropped him and turned to Kitty, flashing her a very small smile. "Later, Kitty Cat. Ah'll tell Lance you're taken."

Kitty blushed. "No, wait! Rogue, _don't_!"

She ran after her and Evan just rolled his eyes.

"_Girls_."

---

"Hey, Rogue...? Rogue! What happened?" Lance demanded when Rogue stormed into the boarding house.

It was one thing her clothes were torn. It was another she had fangs, claws, fur, and longer hair. She growled at them and flopped down onto the couch, crossing her legs.

"Roguey?" Pietro sat next to her, careful not to touch her skin. "What happened?"

"Nothin'!" Rogue snapped. "Lemme alone."

"Uuhh, so how did dancing with Kitty go?" Lance asked.

"UGH!" Rogue jumped up and ran upstairs to her room.

They winced slightly when her door slammed.

"What's her problem, yo?" Todd muttered.

---

Nearly a week later Bayville opened it's doors to "Dracula: A Rock Opera" and the Brotherhood came to cheer Rogue on. Well, Lance came to cheer on Rogue _and_ Kitty. When the play ended they piled into the jeep and drove home. Rogue seemed rather pleased with herself and the funny thing was, so did Pietro.

"All right, what are you two hiding?" Lance questioned.

Rogue chuckled a bit and Pietro burst into a fit of quiet laughter.

"Oh, let's just say the X-Geeks won't be getting home anytime soon..." Pietro smirked.

---

"Now that's odd," Scott frowned. "I could've sworn we all had tires _before_ the play..."

---

A/N: Yes, I realize this was a short chapter, but I thought that was a nice way to end it. Next chapter will probably revolve around the episodes Survival of the Fittest and Shadowed Past. It will be much longer, I guarantee it.


	3. Dark Relations

Title: What's with the X?

Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd had recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Okay, the couples will be Romy and Tonda. I would pair up Lance and Kitty, but she gets on my nerves. Oh...and for future reference, what are your opinions about Tabitha?

---Chapter Three: Dark Relations

"This so isn't fair," Rogue muttered, slouching back in her bus seat. "Why is Mystique makin' us do this?"

"Does it honestly matter? What Boss Lady says, goes!" Todd shook his head. "But you're right, yo. This is pretty pointless."

Lance leaned over the seat they were sitting in and wordlessly pointed to the people boarding the bus. Rogue scowled when Jean and Scott walked passed them and took their seats. Kurt, Kitty, and Evan followed. Lance tried to talk to her but she completely ignored him and sat as far away as possible.

"Oh, great," Pietro muttered. "Not only did she condemn us to a morning of hell, now we're stuck with the X-Geeks!"

Rogue leaned up against the window and sighed heavily. This was not going to be a good day. Kitty and Kurt were tolerable, but Jean and Scott? Oh, this was not fair...

"Whatcha thinkin' about, Roguey?" Pietro asked, playing with her hair. He was careful not to touch her skin.  
  
Rolling her eyes, the girl swatted him away. "About how much of a nightmare this is gonna be."

"Hey, you being stuck with _us_ is no where near as bad us being stuck with _you_!" Jean said from the back.

Todd sat up and looked over at her. "Were we talking to you, yo? I don't think so."

She snorted and went back to talking with Scott.

"Ah hate mah life sometimes," Rogue muttered.

---

As the Brotherhood hiked towards the mountain all Rogue could think about was how to get back at Mystique. Pietro was thinking the same thing. In fact, he gave up going fast for once so he could slow down to stay next to Rogue and plot revenge. Rogue suggested enlisting Fred's help to get her car onto the Bayville High roof. Pietro just said they should burn down the school.

"How does that help us get back at Mystique?" Rogue asked.

"...It doesn't. But at least we wouldn't have any school for awhile."  
  
She slid her gloved hands into the front pocket of her sweater and walked faster so Pietro wouldn't have to walk so slow. She shook her head to clear her white stripes from her face and glanced around. No sign of the X-Men.

And no sign of Todd.

"Hey, where did Toad go?"  
  
Lance stopped walking and saw that Rogue was right. He wasn't anywhere to be found.

"HEY!" he called. "TOAD! Where are you?"

"Over here, yo! Check this out!"

The Brotherhood ran over to him and found him leaning against a KEEP OUT sign.

"What's this?" Fred asked.

"A short cut," Todd said, grinning. "See, I figure we just sneak through here and..."

Rogue raised an eyebrow and leaned over him to look inside. "Ah dunno, Toad. This really doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Oh, come on, yo! What could go wrong?"

---

"_What could go wrong_?" Rogue mocked, collapsing onto the couch. "Ah'll tell ya what could go wrong! That tunnel nearly crushed us! And then we have to team up with X-Men to take down some yahoo! _That's _what could go wrong!"

"Hey, us having to fight Mr. Unstoppable was not my fault, yo," Todd said, sitting next to her. "Besides, we survived, didn't we?"

"I think I broke a nail," Pietro complained.

Lance cracked his neck and leaned against the wall. He glanced at the clock built into the VCR and saw that it was nearly nine-thirty. He glanced at his fellow mutants, all of them still clad in their uniforms. Pietro had helped Rogue make hers. It was a purple body suit with knee-high black boots and baggy black gloves. She also wore a shinny black breastplate. He couldn't help but think she looked attractive. After all, she was the only girl in the boarding house and it didn't help she was just good looking. He had liked Kitty, but now he wasn't sure. She sure didn't seem happy to see him earlier. He wanted to blame it on the X-Men and it very well could've been their fault she was suddenly giving him the cold shoulder, but part of him knew that he had gone overboard when he nearly killed her parents.

"Lance, you there man?" Todd lightly knocked a fist against his head.

"Don't do that!" Lance jumped slightly and pulled away. "What?" he realized everyone was staring at him.

"You got that look in your eyes," Fred said.

"Look?"

"Think about a certain kitty?" Pietro asked smirking.

"So what if I am?"

"You're both pathetic," Rogue mumbled.

Lance felt heat rise into his cheeks. He knew he was blushing. He quickly looked away and said, "Come on. We should hit the sack. We have school tomorrow, remember?" Then he ran upstairs.

Rogue shrugged and followed him, her boots making a dull _thud_ noise against the staircase. She trekked down the hallway to her room, which was the closest to Mystique's. Beside her was Lance's room, then Fred's, Todd's, Pietro's, and a vacant room at the end of the hallway. She tiredly pulled her door open wide and walked inside.

Her walls were painted a dark lavender colour and her carpet was dark green. She had a window over looking the backyard, draped in black velvet. Her bed was in the corner of her room, covered in black sheets and dark green comforter. Beside her bed and under the window was a desk. There were two pictures sitting on it, one of Irene holding her gloved hand and another of Todd and herself asleep on the couch. The desk was a mess of graded homework assignments she never threw away, a few books, a coupe pencils, and a sketchbook filled with random dark drawings. Her closet was on the opposite wall of her bed and hanging from the door was a Korn poster.

For some odd reason Mystique had personally bought Rogue whatever she needed. In fact, most of the books littering her floor and desk were from the shape shifter. The guitar sitting in the corner of the room was given to her by Irene.

"Home sweet home," she sighed, pulling out her green and orange pajamas. She changed and crawled into bed.

_A woman ran as fast as she could, hugging the bundle in her arms closer to her chest. Her eyes were wide in heard and she knew she was being followed, but she dared not look over her shoulder. A gasp escaped her lips when a wolf lunged at her out of no where. She collapsed to the ground, and the bundle fell from her hands..._

"AAAAHHH!" Rogue's scream ran throughout the boarding house and the other residents ran into her room, shocked, alarmed, and a bit annoyed that she had woken them up.

"Was' a' matter?" Todd asked sleepily.

Rogue's head fell into her hands and she struggled to catch her breath and slow her rapidly pounding heart. Taking in shaky breath she looked up at the other members of the Brotherhood.

"It...it was so real," she whispered.

Lance frowned. "You just had a nightmare."

"NO! It's wasn't! I know it wasn't!" she protested.

Pietro leaned against her doorway. "Maybe you just have someone's left over memories."

"...maybe," she sighed.

Todd hoped over to her and gently rubbed her back.

"You gonna be okay, yo?"

"Yeah..." Rogue silenced and then her eyes widened. "Oh mah..."

"What?" Fred asked.

"It...it was Mystique!" she gasped.

"Huh?!"

"In mah dream! It was someone running away and they dropped a baby off a bridge and..." she stopped when she saw Pietro staring at him. "Y'all think Ah'm losin' it, don' 'cha?"

"No...what else did you see?"

"The strange thing was the baby looked a lot like Kurt. Which is weird because why would Mystique...Pietro?"

"Where'd he run off to?" Lance looked down the hall and found that Pietro was long gone.

---

"Mystique is Kurt's mother?" Rogue asked in surprise.

Pietro nodded.

"So...Why can't we let him know that?"

"We just can't." Pietro whispered. "Magneto doesn't want him to know."

Rogue sat down on the steps next to him and took a small swig of her soda. "Ah never saw that one comin'. But...there is a resemblance, isn't there? Can't believe Ah never thought of it."

"She obviously doesn't like talking about," Pietro answered, snatching a stick of celery out of Rogue's paper lunch bag and nibbling on it. "I don't know if she ever intended to tell him or not. Xavier talked to her about it today."

"How d'you know?"

"Toad makes a fairly decent spy, did you know that?"

She snorted. "For havin' the most powerful mind on Earth Xavier sure let's a lot of stuff go under his nose...Why'd he suddenly start talkin' to her about it anyways?"

Pietro frowned as he looked her in the eye.

"When you had that nightmare it was so strong Xavier picked up on it."

"Oh. Sorry?"

"It's not your fault...I think now it's obvious that memory belonged to Mystique."

"Guess so, huh?" she noticed that Pietro had already finished the celery and was munching on another piece. "Pack your own lunch, yahoo!"

Pietro seemed a bit startled, as if he hadn't even realized what he had been doing. He smirked and vanished a second, returning with a can of soda. Rogue eyed the can cautiously and scooted over a bit. She did _not_ want to be near Pietro if he was on a sugar high.

"What are we gonna do about this then? She's gonna tell him sooner of later."

"We just have to make sure that doesn't happen." Pietro finished his soda in one gulp and began to head back into the school. "Come on or we'll be late for out next period!"

Rogue frowned and slowly stood up.

"It ain't right," she muttered. "He has a right to know the truth."

Sighing, she ran after Pietro.

---

A/N: And there is chapter three. Hoped ya liked it. Chapter four will have an aftermath of Shadowed Past with a little bit of Rogue/Kurt bonding. I need some advice on how to write up The Cauldron. The fights are still going to be Shadowcat vs. Blob, Nightcrawler vs. Lance, Spyke vs. Quicksilver, and then that scene with Toad vs. Jean. What should I do about Rogue? I'm thinkin' Rogue can tag along with him and then beat Jean after he loses. What do you think?


	4. Brothers

Title: What's with the X?

Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd had recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?

A/N: Oops, sorry. I spaced the whole 'how Rogue got Mystique's memories in the first place' thing. That's going to be explained in a conversation coming up eventually that goes into more detail how Rogue came to the boarding house. I was going to add that in the second chapter but I left my manuscript in my locker and forgot about it. And Pietro/Rogue? Well, this is going to be Romy, but I'll gladly add a few scenes of them in this. (After all, it's my third favourite Evo pairing aside from Romy and Tonda). As for the Lancitty...Okay, I'll give it a try. I like Kurt/Wanda so I'll give them a scene or two, but it's still gonna be Tonda. (takes breath) Now, without further ado, chapter four. Enjoy.

---Chapter Four: Brothers

"Ah don't care! Ah still feel bad about it!" Rogue shouted, slamming her bedroom door in Pietro's face.

She turned around only to find that he had managed to sneak in anyway.

"But why? He's an X-Geek! Who cares about him _or_ Mystique for that matter!"

Rogue growled and tried to swipe Pietro, but he sped out of the way to the other side of the room. He watched her with raised eyebrows, wondering what she would try next.

"You don't get it, do you?" she muttered, sitting on her bed.

Pietro frowned and was sitting next to her within a second.

"Get what?"

"Kurt had a right to know everything! Why she did those things to him, why she never went after him, why she never told him! She's his mother, Pietro! His _mother_! His only real family that he knows about!" She looked away from him and bit her lip, trying to calm down. "Ah never knew mah real family, okay? Ah don't even know if they're mutants, if they're dead, or anything. It's just...Ah sorta know how Kurt feels about this, ya know? He was adopted and so was Ah."

Pietro watched her again, quietly this time, and tried to think of something to say. In a way he knew how they felt, too. Sure, he had a father, but since when had Magneto been there for him?

"Having a family isn't as great as you think," he said.

"You have some family issues?"

"You could say that."

CRASH. 

Rogue and Pietro jumped slightly.

"What was that?"

"Ah dunno. Come on, those yahoos probably broke something again."  
  
They ran downstairs and found Todd sprawled out on the floor, Fred on his rear, and Lance leaning against the wall. All of them were slightly charred and the room reeked of something burning. Rogue clapped a gloved hand over her nose and walked passed them, into the kitchen. She snorted and walked back out.

"What on Earth were y'all tryin' to do?"

Lance groaned. "Todd got his tongue stuck in the toaster. He ended up sliming it and then it just blew up."

"Next time, _unplug_ the thing!" Rogue explained.

"Oh..." Todd stood up. "_Now_ she tells us, yo."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ah'm goin' for a walk."

"What me to come?" Pietro asked.

"Nah, Ah need some time to mahself. Thanks, though. Later."

---

By the time Rogue reached the park it was a bit passed noon. She took a deep breath of the fresh early autumn air and sighed it back out, content with the peaceful feeling of solitude. A gently gust whipped her air about her face and she tucked it behind her ears. This was a pleasant changed from being stuck in the boarding house all day. The Brotherhood wasn't boring, good heavens no, but they did get on her nerves more than once a day. At least three times if she was lucky.

She stopped. She knew someone was nearby. It wasn't anyone's ability she had absorbed lately, she just had a knack for sensing other people around. She slowly crept up to a tree and looked up.

"ELF!"

"AH!" Kurt screamed and fell out of the tree. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry," Rogue helped him up. "What are you doin' here anyway?"

"Vhat? Am I bothering you?" he hissed.

Rogue winced. "Still upset about Mystique..."

"Upset? You ruined my only chanced to ever learn where I came from! Vhy would I be upset?" He turned to walk away but Rogue grabbed his hand and held him back.

"Ah'm sorry!"

"You're vhat?" Kurt was definitely surprised.

"Ah said Ah'm sorry," Rogue sighed.

"Vhy would you apologize?"

"Because you had a right to know about this." She let him go and leaned against the tree. "But look on the bright side. At least you've got a mother. Even if she does have one of the most warped minds on the planet."

"Vhen have you ever touched her?" Kurt asked, arching a brow.

"Oh, she was beatin' up on Todd and Ah gave her a tap. That woman needs some anger management."

Kurt scowled. "Vhy are _you_ here, anyvay?"

"Meh? Ah'm here because sometimes Ah can't stand those yahoos!"

"Zen vhy do you stay vith zem?"

"Y'all misunderstood me, Elf. Ah meant they were just being a bit annoying. Ya know, typical roommate stuff. Don't tell meh Ms. Perfect and her little lap dog never get on your nerves."

"Ach, don't get me started!"

Rogue smiled a bit.

"Ah really am sorry. Ah was just...followin' orders."

Kurt turned away. "Ja, I know...So she really is my mozer?"

"Yeah."

"Vill...vill you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"I vas vondering... can I have your number?"

"Uh..." Rogue stared at him a moment. "Why?"

"Vell, if you must know, I honestly have no one to talk to at ze institute. None of zem understand vhat I am going through. I just vish I had someone to talk to sometimes."

"Fine. Ah don't have a pen on meh, though."

"Zat is alright. Can you give it me at school?"

"Yeah, Ah will. Later, Fuzzy."

"Bye!"

Kurt smiled as he watched the girl walk away. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all...

---

"ROGUE! Phone for you!" Lance called. "Um...who is this?"

"_Zis is Kurt."_

"Why are you calling Rogue?"

"_I dunno. Vhy do you alvays call Kitty?"_

"That's none of your business!"

"_Sure it's not. Vhere is Rogue?"_

"What makes you think I'm going to let you talk to her?"

"_She von't be happy if you don't let me."_

"Why would see wanna talk to _you_ anyway?!"

"Um...Lance? Can Ah have the phone now, please?"

Lance scowled and thrust it into her hands before storming out of the room. Rogue rolled her eyes and flopped down onto the couch, sweeping her legs up onto one of the armrests.

"Elf?"

"_Hey, Rogue! Is zis a bad time?"_

She smirked when she felt the tremor. "Oh, not really. What'cha want?"

"_I vas wondering if you vant to go to mall or something vith me and Kitty zis veekend?" _

"Ah dunno..."

"_Please?"_

"It's not a good idea."

"_Pretty please?"_

"No!"

"_Pleeease?" _

"FINE! Is three alright?"

"_Ja! See you Saturday!"_

Rogue hung up the phone and crossed her arms. "Ah swear, he's like an annoying little brother!"

"AH! ROGUE! Pietro's trying to stab me with a fork again, yo!"

She groaned and buried her head into her hands. "Come to think of it...So are they!"

---

A/N: A little rushed, but I wanted to update. Next chapter will be fun. Rogue shall kick Jean's butt...because she is cool like that. Thanks again for the reviews.


	5. To the Victor

Title: What's with the X?

Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd had recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?

A/N: Okay, I have an idea. Since I really dislike Scott and refuse to let Rogue have a crush on that moron, she'll have a little crush on Pietro instead! I mean...It's so much easier to be jealous of Pietro since more than one girl hangs off his arm at a time. Anyway, you'll have to excuse any inaccuracy in the begging of this chapter. I didn't see the beginning of the Cauldron Part 1 because I was spending the night at friend's house and didn't get back until _after_ Jean kicked poor Toadie's little butt. Thanks so much for the reviews.

---Chapter Five: To the Victor

Rogue honestly wasn't surprised when Jean easily defeated Todd. The poor fellow was no match for her. That was the very reason that she had followed him. She was not about to let Jean of all people join Magneto's team. She just couldn't let that happen...and she wasn't going to. Jean seemed slightly smug about her victory and as she turned to walk away, the goth girl sprung from her hiding place and delivered a swift and powerful kick to the side of Jean's ribs. The redhead barely had anytime to recover before a hand collided with her face and threw her into a tree. She groaned and rubbed her nose, checking to see if it was broken.

"Rogue! What are you doing?!" she demanded. "First Toad and now you? What's going on?"

The other girl said nothing and launched herself at Jean once again. The physic was ready for her this time and held her back with telekinesis. She narrowed her eyes and approached her.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Jean asked.

"Oh, you've done a _lot_ of things, actually. Like takin' down mah friend there," Rogue said, gesturing with her head to the well Todd had fallen into. She smirked a bit. "Besides...Ah really jus' don't like you."

Jean flung the girl away with her telekinesis and tried to leave. She stopped in her tracks when she heard the faint whistling sound of the air being sliced and she turned to see Rogue about to punch her again. Forgetting that hooded sweatshirt Rogue was wearing had fairly short sleeves, she reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop the blow. Both girls let out a cry of surprise and Rogue jerked away. She did _not_ want that girl's thoughts in her head! However...she had held on long enough to get a good dose of the girl's powers.

"Uuhh," Jean groaned, holding her head. She winced and tried to stop the dizziness that swept over her, but she recovered too late. Rogue lifted up her hands and floated into the air. She pulled Jean along with her and began swinging her around with ease. While she did this, she couldn't help but wonder...Why could she control Scott's powers when he couldn't? And why did she have such good control of Jean's abilities when the redhead had trouble levitating a book?

"Guess the institute ain't all it's cracked up to be," Rogue muttered.

She shrugged and with a powerful wave of telekinesis, drove Jean into the ground. So she wasn't six feet under...Killing Jean hadn't been her intentions no matter how tempting the idea was. She won. That was all that mattered.

A metal orb floated down to her and she gave a small smile as she flew over to it. To go the victor go the spoils, as they say...

---

So what if the X-Men had once again foiled Magneto's plans? So what is Mystique was missing and Magneto thought all of them were failures? Who cared! Rogue got an excuse to kick Jean's butt. The only thing she regretted about it was not getting a copy of the incident on film. At least that way they'd have something to watch on TV. After the Brotherhood had changed back into their casual clothes they all sat down around the living room, all of them exhausted. Pietro had been knocked out when Evan managed to sneak up on him and he now was holding an icepack to the back of his head. Rogue found his reaction to being carried off Asteroid M by Evan quite amusing.

"I really hate the X-Men, you," Todd muttered.

"Join the club," Fred sighed. "Hey...I've got a question. If you lost to Jean then who beat her?"

Rogue raised an eyebrow at them and they stared at her in awe.

"No way!" Todd exclaimed. "You didn't! Details, yo, details!"

"Yeah, Rogue!" Pietro tossed the icepack over his shoulder. "Give us the play-by-play!"

She smirked and crossed her arms.

"Well, if y'all insist...Ah followed Toad to the mansion because Ah knew he didn't stand a chance against the X-Men. After Little Ms. Perfect threw him into a well, Ah snuck up on her and _hopefully_ kicked her ribs in. Then Ah punched her and Ah know for a fact Ah broke her nose 'cuz it looked a little crooked and Ah could'a sworn Ah heard it crack. She lifted meh up with her little powers and started tryin' to figure out what Ah was up to and when Ah wouldn't talk she just sorta tossed meh aside. Now y'all know there was no way Ah was gonna let her beat meh so Ah tried to punch her again and the idiot grabbed mah arm! So Ah had her powers, flung her into a few trees, and then Ah eventually finished her off. And there ya yahoos have it. Jean Grey goes down and Ah'm only sorry Ah didn't video tape it."

The boys stared at her a moment before they burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Pietro held his sides and felt his eyes tearing up and Lance tried his hardest not to cause an earthquake. This was just so rich!

"Aw, man, yo! I tell ya, I wish I was wasn't unconscious when that happened!" Todd snickered.

Rogue stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Irene sent me some money the other day. Wanna order out for pizza or something?"

"Sounds good!" Lance said, as they rest of the Brotherhood followed her into the kitchen.

"M'kay, then what'cha all want?"

"Mmm...Three pizzas with everything on it!" Fred answered. "And two boxes of breadsticks."

"Wanna split one?" Todd asked, looking up at Lance.

"Fine. Get a pizza with half pepperoni and half cheese."

"Yeah, yo! I'll have cheese and fly pizza!" Todd grinned.

"I'll just have a salad," Pietro said. "Pizza is way too fattening..."

"I'll just eat whatever Lance and Todd don't," Rogue said to herself. "Alright. That everything?"

"Yep."

Rogue picked up the phone and leaned against the counter. "Hello? Yeah, Ah'd like three pizzas with the works, one with half pepperoni and half cheese, a large salad, and three boxes of breadsticks. And...Two liters of coke."

"_Uh...is that all?"_

"Yeah, that's all!"

"_Pick up or delivery?" _

"Deliver it to the Bayville Boarding House. Ya, that one. How'd you know? Twenty minutes? Alright. Thanks."

They were lucky Mystique was missing because she would not have been happy to find the living room in the condition it was. A slice of pizza had somehow gotten stuck to the ceiling. Pizza and breadstick boxes and empty coke cans and liters littered the floor. There were a few pieces of pizza left on the coffee table, swarming with several flies. So much for all of the cleaning Rogue had been doing since she arrived at the boarding house, but what did it matter? No Mystique, no real reason to keep the place clean. Rogue was sitting on the couch with on arm draped over the armrest and her head leaned over the side. Todd was curled up next to her with his head resting in her lap. Pietro was lay on the floor with his arms wrapped around one of the liters of coke. Fred and Lance were asleep in two recliners. None of them seemed to care about the mess.

---

Rogue awoke with a yawn and stretched her stiff arms high above her head, careful not to knock Todd from her lap. She gently shook him awake and proceeded in waking the others.

"Do we have to go to school today?" Todd asked, groggily.

"Yeah. Unfortunately."

"Give us one reason why we should," Lance muttered, stifling a yawn.

"Kitty."

"That works."

They all somehow managed to wake up and get dressed. Lance cracked his neck as he climbed into his jeep and Pietro sat next to him. Once again, Todd perched himself atop Fred's shoulder and Rogue sat next to them. He really needed to get a bigger car...

"Is a van out of the question, yo?" Todd asked.

"Yes."

"Ah wouldn't worry about it," Rogue said.

"Oh?" Lance looked at her in the review mirror. "And why not?"

"Ah hade a ride back in Mississippi. When Irene sent meh the money she also sent a letter that said she was sending it to meh."

"Good!" Lance started up the jeep. "Because it's too crowded in here."

When they arrived at school Rogue caught sight of Jean, still supporting a broken nose. She smirked when Jean sent a glare over at her before storming into the school. To the victor goes the spoils and knowing that she had succeeded in humiliating Jean was the greatest spoil she could have asked for.

---

A/N: And there is chapter five! Once again I would like some help with this. I wanna know what your opinions about Tabitha are. I am not found of her at all. If no one really likes her I'm not keeping her in the Brotherhood. See you next chapter!


	6. Merry Little XMas

Title: What's with the X?

Summary: AU. What would have happened if Lance and Todd had recruited Rogue and she never left the Brotherhood?

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating much lately! I was going to a couple of weeks ago, but I sorta got sidetracked. Now, answers for your questions: Yes, Remy is in this. Hence the Romy-ness. Yes, Rogue will stop liking Pietro. She'll probably lose her crush on him sometime around Shadow Dance or Day of Reckoning. I'm not sure yet. Part of the reason I haven't updated was because I was trying to figure out how to make Risty's character work. I've decided to make her Rogue _and_ Kurt's friend. (thinks a moment) This chapter takes place after Boom Boom joins the Brotherhood. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

---Chapter Six: Merry Little X-Mas

"Roguey! Wake up!" Pietro cried, shaking the girl awake.

She groaned and pulled her comforter above her head, rolling onto her side. The goth mumbled something, but Pietro wasn't about to give up so easily. He began to shake her again, this time less gently.

"WHAT?" Rogue demanded, throwing the covers back.

"It's Christmas, sleepy head! Toad won't let us open presents until you're up!"

"Aren't you Jewish of something?" she sighed, but he had already ran out of the room. She pulled herself out of bed and trudged downstairs, muttering under her breath. When she entered the living room, she dropped onto the couch next to Lance and tiredly looked up at the other mutants. They were all waiting for her to say something.

"Go for it," she said.

Todd, Pietro, and Fred instantly began handing out the gifts. Most of them were wrapped in paper grocery sacks and newspaper, and Rogue began to feel a bit foolish for spending money on wrapping paper.

"Rogue, open yours first!" Todd insisted.

She tore the newspaper from her gift and gasped.

"Ah…Ah dunno what to say," she smiled a bit. "How did you…?"

"Toad, what'd you get her?" Pietro questioned.

Rogue held her gift up. In her hands was a picture of the Brotherhood together. The frame was made from jade and black crystal cobwebs were hanging from the corners. In the picture, Lance was smiling and waving a single hand, Todd was grinning, Pietro was striking a dramatic pose, Fred was eating a sub sandwich, and Rogue was glancing up from her copy of _Dracula._

Tabitha snorted and snatched the picture away. She looked it over and rolled her eyes.

"What good is _this_? I'm not even in it!"

"That's why Ah like it so much. Now give it back, you bleached-blonde bimbo!" Rogue snapped. She grabbed the picture back and returned her attention to Todd. "How did you afford this, anyway?"

"Well, I just sorta saved up some money, yo. I, uh, yeah…" he blushed and refused to continue.

"Hey! Gimme!" Pietro exclaimed, grabbing his wrapped present away from Tabitha. He shredded the paper and pulled out a designer pair of jeans. They were black with a silver streak going down each pant leg. "Roguey, what can I say? This is great!"

Lance scooped up his present and removed the paper bag. He smiled fondly as he pulled out a knew pair of knuckle gloves and black tank top with a picture of red sunglasses surrounded in flames sown into the middle. He glanced over at Pietro, who beamed at the sight of his work. Tabitha blinked in confusion.

"I don't get it…oh, Scott! Now I see!"

"You didn't have to make me a shirt, Pietro," Lance smirked. "But thanks anyway."

When the group finished exchanging gifts, they dressed into their winter clothes and headed outside. It was only seven in the mourning, so it was still fairly dark outside. Rogue scooped up a snowball and chucked it at Tabitha, laughing when it hit the girl straight in the face. Tabitha stumbled back and smirked at the other girl before tossing an exploding ball of energy at her. Rogue jumped out of the way and threw a few more snowballs, making each hit their target dead-on. Tabitha couldn't help but laugh, and when she reached down to pick up some snow, a small tornado of frost plowed into her and sent her flying.

"Score!" Pietro cackled, coming to a stop.

Todd threw a snowball at Lance, who simply kicked the smaller mutant's feet out from under him.

"This is boring!" Tabitha complained. "I have an idea! Let's build snow forts!"

"Yeah!" Todd exclaimed. "We can divide up into teams! This will be fun, yo!"

Fred, Tabitha, and Lance decided to be team one. With Fred's strength, they managed to fix up their fort in no time, but Pietro's speed enabled him to make his much faster. Rogue knelt down behind the wall of their fort and scooped up a handful of snow. She began to pack into a snowball, taking her time to mold it into the proper shape. She slowly began to ease upward, holding her arm back to attack. Just when she was about to reach the top of the wall, Pietro shot up. With a loud cry of "ATTACK!" he began flinging his arms too fast for Rogue and Todd to see. Snowballs began to reign down on the rest of the Brotherhood, and Tabitha let out a shriek.

"This is ridiculous!" Lance cried out, standing. "We all know what's about to happen. Tabitha is going to get fed up with Pietro and just blast the other fort down. Can't we do something _fun_?"

"This isn't fun?" Todd asked, hiding the slime-covered snowball behind his back.

"What else do you have in mind?" Fred asked.

"You'll see."

---

"Rock head, you've outdone yourself," Tabitha admitted.

"They look real!" Todd commented.

"What are we waiting for?" Lance asked. "We didn't build these X-Geek snowmen for nothing."

Rogue needed no further instruction, and she charged at the Jean snowman with a baseball bat in hand. It was reduced to a lump of snow and old clothes in seconds. Needless to say, the other snowmen didn't last long. They were also rebuilt and re-destroyed several times within the next hour. By the time the Brotherhood had their fill of smashing the X-Men to pulp, it was well past one in the afternoon. They hurried back inside for lunch, each of the of numb and shivering.

After the ate, the Brotherhood went their separate ways. Todd and Fred watched cheesy Christmas specials on television, Tabitha was upstairs in the shower, Pietro was asleep in his room, Lance was reading magazines, and Rogue was cleaning up the wrapping paper, newspaper, and paper bags. She paused before dumping them into the garbage back and nearly dropped the newspaper in her hand.

The headline read "ANGEL SIGHTINGS" in bold letters. She stared at it a moment before shrugging and throwing the papers away.

---

A/N: I know it was short, rushed, stupid, and pointless, but I really needed to write SOMETHING to get back into the hang of writing this. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I shall see you next year! I'm taking a long vacation and won't be able to update. (runs off to her room to play Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories all week for her "vacation")


End file.
